Bennett Slater’s “Giving Up The Ghost.”
Opening on Saturday, November 6th, 2021 at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, California is artist Bennett Slater’s phenomenal solo exhibition, “Giving Up The Ghost.”
Slater's work is heavily inspired by pop culture elements and drawn from the relationships the future shares with the past, the new from the old, life from death. Utilizing traditional oil methods on wood, his work plays with techniques borrowed from Flemish and Dutch master disciplines, combined with bold, geometric forms linked to more contemporary futurism and deco sensibilities. This dichotomy of contrasting artistic disciplines and influences lends itself to the underlying dualities observed in his work.
Regarding his new series, “Giving up the Ghost,” Slater shares, “From the time people worshiped in the sun, there have been those who linger in its shadows. The dark holds many secrets, and throughout time, there have always been those attempting to unlock them. Pagan omens, superstitions, and rituals remain woven in the fabric our world- simply adapted with the time. The iron of the cauldron is now blow-mold plastic…but our dark curiosity remains.
This new series conjures idols and symbols from ancient folklore and myth, and clashes it against the kitschy hollow plastic and colorful candy shell of our most celebrated modern pagan ritual: Halloween. This is my largest solo body of work to-date and was a thrilling challenge to create. The collection is subdivided into three smaller series: five pieces dedicated to folklore and myth, five pieces exploring the many incarnations of Lucifer, and the final ten pieces are an exploration of our contemporary, candy-coated experience. I am fascinated by the journey these creatures and symbols have gone on, from darker, more sinister roots, to an accepted celebration of creatures and candy.
Studying through ancient symbology and mystic folklore has long been of deep interest to me, matched only by my deep love for the tradition of Halloween and the plastic flashiness of kitsch culture from the 60s and 70s.”
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